A Sermon for the then Prince Charles…and us
A sermon preached by Colin Urqhart almost forty years ago about the then-Prince Charles has come back to speak to me in 2026.
To summarise: ‘Ever since his birth, every part of Prince Charles’ life has been a series of circumstances that have prepared his to reign. What he learnt, how he reacted, and acted has formed a character that he will bring to the throne when he reigns as King Charles. In the same way, everything we pass through in life prepares us to ‘reign in life’ as Paul puts it and that day, when, by His grace, we kneel before Jesus confessing He is Lord, to receive the crown of life’
A few days ago, I watched a YouTube reel of a Zambian brain surgery team. They had just performed a ten-hour operation on a 12-year-old girl, were exhausted…and yet…they burst out praising and singing, arms raised, clapping, rejoicing in the Lord…right there in the operating theatre with the girl, still anaesthetised, awaiting recovery.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1443186300782418
I reposted it on my FB page with the phrase ‘THAT’S church’ written above the video. It reminded me of Colin’s sermon - and a series of familiar bible stories
To see brothers and sisters in Christ rejoicing so freely, spontaneously praising and enjoying the Lord was moving, of course, but that’s not all. What struck me was that all these skilful men and women had spent years training, learning, maybe with a string of successes and failures, of strengths and weaknesses, of setbacks and flourishing…whole lives. Everything they had experienced in life had led them to be in that operating theatre performing life-saving surgery.
I only saw the hands lifted, the voices raised, the evident joy, but God saw the whole picture. God sees the heart; when the bible says ‘God SO loved the world’, it is not joking.
From there the following well-known bible incidents came to mind.
‘Get out of your country and from your father’s house and go to a land that I will show you, I will make you a great nation’
Abram, maybe as a child, heard God speak to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your father’s house and go to a land that I will show you, I will make you a great nation’. He had to wait many years, almost a whole lifetime, before the moment arrived and, ready or not, he left all that was familiar, all those years spent in his father’s house. That phase was over. He would never go back. Just like now, King Charles III cannot return to being Prince Charles.
When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, ‘I see four men loose; walking in the midst of the fire and they are not hurt, and the fourth man is like the Son of God’ Dan3v25. This is a true picture of the Christian life. Whatever circumstance we are in, there is the fourth man…and fire. I imagine these three being interviewed years later on a chat show, reminiscing about the greatest time in their lives; the audience eager to hear about the fiery furnace. But they look at each other. ‘It is the time we spent with the Son of God, what He said to us, things we cannot even begin to explain, but those moments prepared us to reign.’ Nebuchadnezzar promoted all three men; it was their lives after their time with the Son of God, reigning in Babylon, that they were full of.
Jesus saw the disciples straining at the oars from his position on the hill overlooking the lake. He had told them to row over to Bethsaida. ‘Now about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by’ Mark 6v48. Peter cried out, ‘If it is you, Lord, bid me come’, and we know what happened next. Sometimes, like the disciples, our worlds shrink when the wind is against us. You can sense the disciples, wet, weary, weak…all thoughts of the excitement of the kingdom, the adventure with Jesus, the baptisms, the miracles, the radical teaching, reduced to the perimeter of the boat and the waves, the sound of the wind, the struggle. And then they see a ghost! Terror grips them. Fear. The truth of their circumstances was undeniable. But it wasn’t the whole truth. Jesus had seen them straining at the oars and had come to where they were struggling. Not just their new friend, Jesus of Nazareth, the man whom they had followed, but the same man who had spent time in a fiery furnace. It is the Lord.
I was reminded that everything in my life had led to this point… true also for you reading this.
Whether we are facing a new call to leave the familiar and push into something new, or in a fiery furnace, or exhausted, can we learn from the Zambian surgeons? It is time to rejoice. It is time to sing.
(Watchman Nee once said, ‘the Christian life is wiping one's tears whilst holding onto the plough’. I want to add one thing: the plough is made of music and dancing and singing. Jesus once said, ‘the stones would cry out’, so ploughs and material objects, the sun, moon, and stars can all praise God.
Lastly, I thought of Paul and Silas. ‘But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening’ Acts 16v25. So much in life had led to this point, just like the Zambian surgical team, yet Paul and Silas in prison for preaching the gospel and causing an economic collapse (read Acts 16) and exhausted, prayed and sang hymns to God at midnight. It means the ‘middle of the night’, those hours where we can so easily be prey to fear, anxiety, unpleasant dreams, and thoughts…they praised God and a miracle followed on. But they would have praised whether or not a miracle was around the corner.
The sight of the Zambian believers singing from the heart in an operating theatre has encouraged me, in far-off North Somerset, reminded me of a sermon almost forty years ago, and a string of biblical passages that prepared others to reign in life…whatever story the outward circumstances might tell, the truth is that everything in our lives and what God has taught us, has prepared us for this moment. The fourth man is with us in the fiery furnace of life. He sees us when we’re exhausted, or in some form of prison.
Why not stand and repeat Psalm 148 with a loud voice? Please forgive my indulgence, quoting the old King James Version with its rich Elizabethan English. Enjoy the reference to dragons!
Psalm 148
Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created.
He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord.
p.s. On my FB page, I wrote ‘THAT is church’. In this post, I am emphasising our response as individuals. In another post, I’ll explain why this is such a good picture of ‘church’.